


What the Fourth Age has to Offer

by TheKoolKandy



Series: What the Fourth Age has to Offer [1]
Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-09 12:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKoolKandy/pseuds/TheKoolKandy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story following a previously unknown Dedicated, Kaiden, two years after the Bore has been sealed as he tries to find how he can make his mark in what he thinks can only be the next Age of Legends. AMoL spoilers!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been two years since the Lord Dragon had died, since he had sealed away the Dark One again, since the Fourth Age began. People spoke of him, Rand al’Thor, with the same reverence some would use for the Creator and across the land there were still farmers claiming to have met him, or known him, or seen him play his flute.

He played the flute wonderfully, they said, better than any other. They all felt blessed despite the world still repairing itself from the brink of collapse. It wouldn’t be repaired for some time yet. The topless towers of Cairhien hadn’t even been completed after more than twenty years since the Aiel War, and now they might have to wait twenty more still.

Farms were popping up again, but none far from villages and any small villages that might have existed before the Bore was sealed again were long deserted or pillaged by Trollocs in the days following up to the Last battle.

One of the newest settlements to spring up since the Last Battle ended was called Rhuidean. It was far from matching the stature of the city from which it got its name, but it was on its way there.

The reason for the name, to some, was obvious. It was the rapidly growing settlement surrounding the Black Tower. The people saw it fitting, though the Aiel didn’t reframe from showing disgust at the name choice. The Black Tower and its Asha’man were the new People of the Dragon, in their own eyes, and they saw fit to make their own capital, even if they were stil part of Andor.

The settlement had expanded from barracks and basic living spaces to a sprawling near city that had begun to show everything from inns to smithies, seamstresses and anything else a city might have.

People were still wary of the Asha’man, as they were of the Aes Sedai, it had been too recently that many people had spent their lives frightened of men who could channel that they could easily accept them, but they were starting to become part of the world and they had become better than the arrogant and secluded men who were the trademark of an early Asha’man.

Now the Asha’man followed Androl’s example, in both character and seeking Aes Sedai to be bonded with. Androl, now holding a position not only high esteem, but power within the Black Tower as Logain Ablar’s second in command, much like the Keeper of the Chronicles in the White Tower, is what they think of when they hear the name Asha’man, Guardian.

Before he was mocked for his weak strength in the Power, but now that the world had no need for battles and killing and his knowledge was far more potent a tool than the power of any ten men of the Black Tower.

Logain was truly the leader of the Black Tower, the Dragon’s Fang, taking pride in the once frightening symbol. He had been the last man the Dragon had left in charge and he had played a major role in the Last Battle. But most of the Asha’man knew he was a figurehead, he was powerful and driven but he was also broken by what he had suffered in the name of the light.

Everyone knew Androl was the true strength of the Black Tower, though it earned neither him nor Logain any ill will as they each had their own part to play.

Kaiden wished to follow after Androl. Not battle, no one wanted that, not with the Last Battle so fresh in memory, but he wanted to be the kind of man that Androl was.

He was stronger in the power, stronger than most, but Kaiden knew how little that meant. In the days before the Last Battle his nameday had scarce come more than twenty three times and he’d been at home in Kandor, meant to be a merchant if he’d ever listen so long. He wouldn’t have minded, he always wanted to travel but with the land in turmoil there had been other responsibilities.

One of those responsibilities was to join the Kandori army but a group of Mazrim Taim’s recruiters had gotten to him first. One of them had been a friend, years before the name Rand al’Thor was even heard of, and when he came back he was just another one of the M’Hael’s black-hearted men. The thought of his burned corpse still brought him nightmares every so often, he wished he’d never seen the man again, but without him he’d have never have had the opportunities he had.

The spark wasn’t inborn in him but he did have the ability and was now fast becoming very proficient. Just four months back he’d been raised from solider to Dedicated. More than three years for him to become Dedicated.

It would have been unheard of for someone to take so much time to advance in the early days of the Tower when men either moved through the ranks or were burnt out and killed. He preferred it this way. He had yet to find his talent, he hoped he had a good one, but his teachers and not to mention fellow Dedicated made sure he paced himself. Much like the White Tower’s Accepted they were allowed more freedom upon achieving Dedicated but that did not stop a very close eye on every man in the Black Tower. It was too new, everything was still too unfamiliar for there be relaxed rules on the use of Saidin.

With the death of the Dragon and not to mention all the male Forsaken, almost any and all knowledge of Saidin was lost past what Mazrim Taim had sparingly passed on. Every day there were new discoveries and theories, but almost every day there were accidents too. Most weren’t serious, but they happened often as the men of the Black Tower experimented with Saidin, usually a good ways away from others.

Kaiden sometimes wished that the Black Tower had Ajahs like the White Tower did, though perhaps he could just find a brown sister to be bound to. He didn’t know many sisters though.

There was almost constant correspondence between the Logain and Cadsuane, the new Amyrlin Seat, and both Sisters and Asha’man were sent travelling between the two Towers. There was talk of the two merging, mostly by the men, the women still held too many prejudices towards the men for Kaiden to believe that it could happen anytime in the next hundred years, if not later. The introduction of the bonds had eased relations, however.

It really was a better world that he lived in now. He had clear memories of his childhood and life before the Dragon Reborn and they had never been like this. He had been privileged, but the world had not been.

Some said the Dragon’s ta’veren nature was so strong it still pulled at the pattern after his death, what other explanation could there be for no wars between nations. Not even the Seanchan had touched the lands past what they had claimed in the days before the Last Battle.

These days with the world rebuilding around him, free of war, made Kaiden hopeful that it wouldn’t just be referred to as the “Fourth Age” by later ages, but as the “Age of Legends” and he hoped that he could play his small part in making it that way.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Fourth Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind blew through the clear streets of a city named Rhuidean. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We start to learn more about Kaiden as he experiments with the Power.

The day was cool and had a breeze coming lazily from the east, it was late spring and the world was vibrant with remerging life. That day especially the land was blooming around the Black Tower. It was blooming to the sound of a low rumble, like a thunderstorm in the distance. It wasn’t a thunderstorm though, it was Loial son of Arent son of Halan singing to the trees and the bushes. He was a Treesinger, one of the most talented Treesingers in generations, which was impressive by itself, though it paled in comparison to his other exploits. Loial had not just known the Dragon, he’d known the Prince of the Ravens, another friend of the Dragon’s, and been a close companion to Perrin Aybara who was married to the queen of Saldaea.

From what Kaiden had seen he never stopped singing unless it was to ask questions, which is normally why he was at the Black Tower. He was accompanied by Damer Flinn, a full Asha’man and Gaidin to Corele Havian of the Yellow Ajah, as well as his wife Erith. Kaiden seldom saw Loial out of the company of his wife, and to a lesser extent Damer and Corele.

He’d always wanted to speak to Loial but the Ogier never came looking for him, which Kaiden admitted was for good reason. Loial was still working on his book and took every opportunity he got to speak to anyone who had even met the Dragon in passing. Kaiden never had.

 He watched as the Ogier strode past, pockets bulging with what could only be books and his extensive notes. He’d heard that Loial had an entire room back at the stedding for his books, and considering who the notes were about, Kaiden wouldn’t be surprised to find the rumour to be underestimating things a bit.

A bit gloomy, he turned back to what he was doing. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but then again, not many were when it came to Saidin. He seized the Power and the torrential flow of it surged through him, life and death, pain and pleasure, all mixed together making feel like as if he was waking up from a dream. He still relished in its purity, when he’d first wielded the power the taint had covered it, covered him and left him dirty after every use. But it had always been worth it, and now wished he could always hold the power, safe in the void.

He began with a single strand of each of the elements fire, earth, water, air and spirit. All five elements were seldom used together, but Kaiden was at a loss for where to turn with his studies so this seemed the most logical direction for him to take. Most of the strands simply slipped past each other as he attempted to form a weave, but when one strand slipped away he’d try another of another element. It was a dangerous way to form weaves since there was little he could do to predict the result but so far he’d never made any mistakes.

 Usually he’d continue this way until he got one of two results, that the weave stopped working and fell away, or he created a usable weave and tested it. More often than not the weaves would disappear in a flash of light or a bang, but sometimes they did stay together and did things. Though even when they stayed together he would have to let them go because they were too hard to maintain and never did anything useful or visible.

 Once he thought he’d discovered a brand new form of travelling and had been very excited until he remembered seeing Logain use it once, skimming it had been called, and wasn’t very useful since travelling was faster and only required the person weaving the gateway to known the place where they stood well, rather than where they intended to be which skimming required.

Today he thought he had something good in the making, the strands were falling together as easily as they would with a weave he already knew, as easily as they could with the nature of Saidin. He was beginning to see, or sense where the weave was headed and finally the last strand slip into its place in the tapestry.

It was a hard weave, one more complex than he’d ever formed before and it took most of his concentration and power just to keep it going, but after struggling for a moment he was able to admire what he’d created. It was… he wasn’t sure, but he knew it was something new. There wasn’t really a reason why he thought it was a good idea to try using the weave on himself, there wasn’t a reason why it should have done anything even if it wasn’t harmful. It did do something, however.

 Kaiden rose off the ground, just a couple inches, to an observer he might have just jumped, if his jump had stopped in mid-air. He stood there, or rather he floated there, marvelling at the impossible thing he had just done. It was something that just wasn’t done, a man could lift a boulder the size of a small house but no matter his strength in the power he shouldn’t be able to move himself a hair in the same way.

“Blood and ashes, how are you doing that?” said a voice from behind him, and surprise rang outside the void as he quickly released the weave, dropped to the ground and turned around, only stumbling a little bit. It was Damer and Corele looking at him, Corele exuding the usual Aes Sedai calm, though with the perpetual smile that she always wore, and Damer looking hard, like any of the other Asha’man who had fought in the front lines of the Last Battle, though the surprise that hadn’t made it into the man’s voice was almost visible on his face.

“I just… Here, let me show you Asha’man Damer” Kaiden said as he reconstructed the weave he had used before, slowly, taking the flows of air and oddly both earth and spirit. He placed the weave upon himself, or maybe it would be better to say he placed the weave around himself and he began to float again until he saw Damer nod his head and he let it go.

 “What lead you to try that?” The old balding Asha’man asked as he began piecing the weave together with careful precision.

Kaiden shrugged, but realized Damer wasn’t looking at him. “I like to experiment since I haven’t really found a focus yet.”

Damer nodded again as he finished the weave, but instead of staying together as Kaiden’s had his weave slipped away as he attempted to place it around himself in the same way Kaiden had done.

“Did I miss anything? I thought that’s what you did.” Damer asked, looking confused.

Kaiden liked the new attitude of the Asha’man, well maybe not new, it had been almost two years, but it was good all the same. One was never hesitant about learning from another, no matter their rank. There were, of course, some who felt they were too big for their black boots. More often than not the Black Tower had become a place of learning and progress, much like the school in Cairhien, but for the One Power.

“No, Asha’man Damer. Not that I could tell anyway.”

“Odd… What exactly is it you’re doing with the power? Describe what you’re doing, there could be more to this than it seems.”

Kaiden stood in thought a moment and idly began forming the weave again, asking himself in his mind why each strand fell where it did in the tapestry of the Power.

“The air… It’s nothing special, it’s like what you’d use to lift anything. The earth… I’m using it with the spirit almost separate from the air, though they’re finely linked with a gilding of spirit. I think the earth is actually what allows me to move.”

“Are you sure that you’re not just changing the ground around you, instead of making yourself move? Is it maybe a Mask of Mirrors? This really shouldn’t work.”

“Yes, I’m positive. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything to anything other than myself.” Kaiden lifted off the ground again, this time he altered the weave a bit and began drifting towards Damer, drifting faster. He let the weaves go so he wouldn’t crash into the old man, though still stumbling for a pace or two with the momentum of his brief flight.

Damer chuckled while Corele continued to look on with trained indifference before he began the weave again. Kaiden hurried back a few paces, red faced, and murmuring apologies mostly directed at the Aes Sedai. The weave Damer made looked just the same as the one he’d made before, though there was a look of concentration now on his face. The weave done, he attempted to place it on himself again, but the flows just melted away as they had the first time.

“It might be too early to say now, but I think you might have a Talent boy.” Corele touched Damer on the arm then and whispered something to him. “Ah… Yes! Kaiden, right?” Kaiden nodded, feeling gratified that the Asha’man had remembered his name. “Well I’d like you to try delving yourself, add whatever it is that made the weave work on yourself.”

Kaiden did as he was told and raised his hands to his temples, quickly working out how he was going to add his new piece to the long unchanged standard. The extra strands of spirit and just a little fire fell into place easily with the rest of the weave as his fingers touched his temples and he immediately experienced the most surreal moment of his life.

 He’d delved someone before, and that had always given him a sense of familiarity with the person’s body, their state and potential problems. This was much like that but also so much more, he became not just familiar with his body, but aware of all the little changes and movements it performed from the blood rushing through his veins to the food dissolving in his gut. It should have been overwhelming, but he took it all in for a moment before it did and let go of the weave, shaking his head furiously to clear it of the peculiar awareness of his body.

“Did it work?” Corele said in a tone of urgency.

“Yes, I think so. It was different from how delving usually feels, but it definitely worked.”

A look of excitement was now working its way across the Aes Sedai’s normally serene face.

“Think about what this could mean Damer, a new talent! He could heal himself, he could… There’s probably a dozen other things! Maybe with study we could even have Elayne create a ter’angreal based on his talent, it should be possible.”

He’d been a bit amused by his supposed new talent before, but at hearing he might get to meet Elayne, Queen of Andor and one of the three wives to the Dragon, excitement brimmed up. Now that was something he wanted to do in his life.

“Very true, very true, but we needn’t forget that he is channeling Saidin and Elayne would have trouble creating a male ter’angreal, or any sort of ter’angreal based on something she can’t see. If we had a woman with the same talent it might be different…”

Kaiden’s head fell forward at that. “I’m sure there’s something she can learn from me, I’ll just… just… I know I can do something.”

Damer looked at him, eyeing him up and down, plainly aware of the reason behind Kaiden’s protests, though his tone implied he was far from scornful of it. “It’s just not possible, something that might work with Saidin could be catastrophic with Saidar.”

“You forget Saml al’Seen is with Elayne,” Corele said, patting Damer on the arm again. “He has shown some proficiency in the making of ter’angreal, though nothing to rival Elayne.” She added the last as an afterthought, but from her look it was plain that it should have gone without saying.

Hope welled up in Kaiden again and he looked towards Damer, who only seemed to need a moment to consider while scratching his white fringe of hair.

“Very well, I’ll have someone sent off to let her known we’re coming, she should be in Caemlyn, not that she can go far with those two little kids. In the meantime go prepare your things, I doubt Elayne will have much time for you but I’m sure Saml won’t have much else to do. I saw Loial get his hands on Grady so we should have a long time yet before he needs to return to stedding Shangtai.”

Only waiting a few seconds more to be sure neither Damer nor Corele had anything else to say to him, Kaiden dashed off towards the barracks he called his home to grab his black coat that he normally neglected to wear around the Tower as well his sword, though it was a wonder the Asha’man were even required to carry them anymore.

He’d found his talent, he was going to Caemlyn, and he was going to meet Elayne Trakand. Kaiden couldn’t believe the turn his day had taken. Next thing he knew he’d be having adventures like Damer had when he was a member of the Queen’s guard.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaiden meets Saml al'Seen and they begin working on a new kind of ter'angreal.

They arrived at the Travelling ground in Caemlyn a few hours later, the sun still bright overhead. The palace was stunning, Ogier craftsmanship at its finest, even after numerous repairs. Kaiden was tempted to go to one of the great walls surrounding the castle just to look out over the rest of Caemlyn, but he resisted the urge, forcing himself to act more like an Asha’man.

He followed Damer and Corele through the small door in one of the tall Whitestone walls of the castle, trying not to goggle at the lavish decorations inside. All down the walls there were tapestries and all sorts of other adornments that featured the White Lions of Andor, but there were also red and gold tapestries scattered between the reds and whites of Andor. It was the symbol of the Dragon, all the countries in the land had them somewhere now. It showed their dedication to the Dragon’s Peace, the Dragon’s final gift to the world before winning the Last Battle.

After a few minutes of silent walking through the halls, only occasionally interrupted to acknowledge the bows or curtsies of castle servants aimed mostly at Corele, they arrived at their destination.

The room was large and had the feeling of a workshop, though it wasn’t much like a conventional workshop. There were all sorts of things strewn across the room and the large table that lined the far wall from the door. There were no tools, not from what Kaiden could see, but there were materials ranging from ugly bits of stone to bowls of precious gems and bars of iron, silver, gold and more. The entire room was bright and had a sense of warmth to it coming from not quite discernible things placed at intervals on the walls.

At the table sat a man who, upon turning appeared to be around Kaiden’s age. He had short brown hair and was wearing the usual black Asha’man coat with a sword pin at the collar to denote his position as Dedicated, like Kaiden was. It could only be Saml al’Seen who was from the Two Rivers, and from what Kaiden had heard he’d met the Dragon before he ever was the Dragon.

“Saml, this is Kaiden. He’s the one you’ll be studying with, or perhaps on, today,” Damer said.

Saml got to his feet and made a deep bow to both and Asha’man and Aes Sedai, then a smaller one for Kaiden in acknowledgement. He bowed back, though it seemed a bit odd.

“I’m not expecting you to make miracles, but do what you can, and if another of us can answer a question be sure to ask.” Damer opened the door again to let Corele out, following right behind leaving Kaiden and Saml alone in the brightly lit workshop.

“Best we get started,” Kaiden said to break the silence the closed door had left.

“Yes, we better.” Saml paused to think, “I think you should show me what you did and we can work from there.”

It seemed as good an idea as any so Kaiden seized Saidin, only allowing himself a few moments to bask in the struggle, then began the weave.

Saml watched with intent brown eyes, shooting quick looks at some of the materials around the room while trying to soak in all he could. He began to try the weave himself and before Kaiden could tell him it probably wouldn’t work the man’s flows were already melting away.

Saml gave a somewhat embarrassed smile before saying “I thought I might as well try first.”

Kaiden shrugged, releasing the Power regretfully. It didn’t seem to hurt Saml and only one other person had really tried so it was worth the attempt, even if it hadn’t helped. “Can you make anything of it?”

“Well,” Saml turned around and began sliding his fingers across many of the different materials and tools he had lying on the table, “I’m not really sure yet. I don’t know much about the making of ter’angreal, I’m really just making it up as I go along but I do know a few things.” He was fingering some dark rock that lay in front of where he had sat before, “See, a lot of the time it barely matters what you begin with,” he picked up the rock and tossed it between his hands “This is just some plain rock but I can still make certain types of ter’angreal with it if I know how to direct the flows and shape it, it’s amazing, it feels like turning lead into gold. Sometimes, from what Elayne Sedai has told me, certain types of ter’angreal need certain materials. For example, ter’angreal that work around mostly spirit flows can be made with almost any material, but for a ter’angreal that needs, say, mostly earth flows it almost always requires a type of metal to be made even if Saidin or Saidar is used, though that can change the type of metal.”

It all did sound very interesting to Kaiden, even if he didn’t quite share Saml’s level of enthusiasm. It nearly made him wish he had the same knack for it Saml had, almost. “Alright, so what does that mean for this?”

“I’m working on that, but first we need to decide what exactly what we want this to do. Ter’angreal need specific uses to work well, just one task.” Saml had already put the rock back down and was grabbing various other things from around the room and piling them with the rock.

“It’s going to make you fly.” Kaiden said with absolute certainty, he’d been thinking about it since his feet first lifted off the ground and couldn’t get the image of soaring over the land out of his mind. He hadn’t thought of any practical uses, especially since it would be dangerous and far slower than travelling, but that wasn’t what the pursuit of knowledge was about. And that was missing the point, it would mean that people could fly, there didn’t need to be a practical use for that.

Saml shot a grin over his shoulder at Kaiden while still picking things off the wall. “I like it, ambitious. It’ll be something to rub in the other’s faces anyway, two Dedicated discovering how to fly!” He let out a laugh which made Kaiden smile too. “Thankfully air and spirit usually don’t require anything specific I should just be able to mostly whatever we like, but the earth will make things tricky, we could be stuck here a while trying to figure out if it’s iron or silver or, well just about any other metal. The real problem, I think, is going to be the shape.”

“The shape?” Kaiden asked, it seemed odd that of all things to matter that it would be the shape.

“Yes, it’s extremely important. Usually if you know the starting point the shape comes pretty easily, it’ll just seem natural, but other times it’s just a matter of trial and error. The flows used don’t seem to matter much for the shape, it’s more what the ter’angreal is meant to do. Though actually I guess that would make them related since the flows determine what…” Saml caught himself before he rambled much further, he really seemed to like talking about ter’angreal. “Sorry, getting a bit carried away, but you get the point.” He motioned Kaiden over to the table and pulled up a chair from one of the far walls for him to sit on.

Kaiden took the seat and sat down beside Saml and got his first good look at the pile the other Dedicated had made. It seemed like there was a bit of everything from around the room there, dozens of tiny little shining jewels, rubies, sapphires, topazes, and diamonds. There were the bars of metals, a thumb wide and only slightly longer of gold, silver, iron and many more precious and not so precious metals. Oddly enough there was also silk, tiny bolts of cloth, a spool or two of fine thread and bottles of all different colours of dyes that were large enough Kaiden doubted he could fit a hand around one of them. It all seemed a bit excessive since he’d always assumed most of the crafting came from use of the power, not raw materials, but in the end he figured it was better to be prepared for any exceptions than not. This case would surely be one of the exceptions.

Saml grabbed a few of the small iron bars as well as the rock he’d been tossing before and his face turned stony and slightly menacing from what Kaiden knew was from him entering the void and seizing Saidin. Kaiden watched with interest as the other man began weaving, but he couldn’t keep up with the intricate flows that were being used. Some of the things in front of Saml began to glow, almost unnoticeable, but then a few moments later the flows were gone and nothing had changed. His face slid back to a puzzled frown from the stony concentration it had been before.

Kaiden hadn’t expected it to work on their first try, he wasn’t even sure if he expected it to work at all in the end, but he was still disappointed at the failure.

“I wasn’t expecting that to work but I still think I’m, we’re, off to the right start here. Just the iron should do most of the ter’angreal, but now it’s about finding the right shape and possibly colour.” He scowled at that, “I wish I didn’t have to use these bloody dyes like the women.”

“Do you know of any ter’angreal that deal with air in any similar ways? Even just for lifting other things?” Kaiden asked, feeling a bit guilty that he couldn’t offer much more help than that.

“I do, that’s what I was trying to base this off of. It just didn’t work.” Saml sighed, “Oh well, I still have a few more ideas, though maybe you should try and explain the weave a bit more to me before we waste too much time feeling around in the dark.”

Kaiden sighed as well, still disappointed in the lack of sudden bursts of insight that always seemed to strike geniuses, and obliged by seizing Saidin once more and creating the largest flows he could and laid out the completed weave for Saml like a set of instructions.

Saml shot rapid fire questions at Kaiden which he answered as best he could, then lapsed into silence as the other man began tinkering at his work table on his next idea, the one that would finally work, he hoped.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit is paid to the two young chanellers.

Kaiden and Saml sat at the table in the cluttered workshop for hours that day, not noticing the time pass because of the never changing warm lights that illuminated the room. The table in front of them was scattered with dozens imperfect and half-made ter’angreal beside dwindling piles of things both expensive and inexpensive.

They did notice the time, however, when the door opened to show a figure silhouetted in the dark doorway. The figure went unnoticed though until it spoke in a high, commanding voice, though it was not unkind.

“Saml and Asha’man Kaiden, I’ll only bother you shortly. I’m merely interested in seeing what you’ve done, since it sounds very interesting indeed.”  
            “I, oh no, I’m only a Dedicated, Elayne Sedai” Kaiden said, stammering the start of the sentence until he seized the Power to steady himself. He let go of the source at a look from Saml though, but maintained the void, attempting to ignore the glow of Saidin just out of sight and the other man’s amused smile.

What Kaiden had heard of Elayne could only pale in comparison, she was every bit as Aes Sedai as a woman could be, as well as having the dignity and self-confidence of every Queen of Andor before her. Her red gold hair flowed free behind her and down her shoulders onto the stately green dress, in usual Andoran style, that she wore. She wore no jewelry other than the golden Great Serpent ring that all Aes Sedai wore on their hands, it showed her status as Aes Sedai better than her face which had yet to fully take on the ageless quality. The smile on her full red lips, certainly practiced in nature still reached to her sapphire blue eyes. He was glad that he was in the void, or else he doubted he could keep himself fully composed.

“I beg your pardon then Dedicated. What have you produced so far?” Elayne said.

“I’m ashamed to say we’ve made little progress today, Elayne Sedai. These are the best we’ve created” Saml said, gesturing to two palm sized metallic discs with differing thicknesses.

“That’s a good start. What can you do with them?”

Even in the void, Kaiden was tempted to beam, but seeing how Saml looked he maintained his calm composure.

“If I may show you?” Saml waited for Elayne’s nod before grabbing the two ter’angreal and handing one to Kaiden. “This one…” he turned stone faced and wove tiny flows of air which touched his shining disc, causing him to raise two finger widths off the ground like on a platform. “That’s the extent of what it does, I can’t move at all, if I want to stay in the air. The other on is a bit different.”

Kaiden took the cue and channelled equally small flows of air into his disc. At once his feet left the ground, though there still seemed to be a solid platform underneath him as he drifted forward. He removed the flows from the disc long before he got near to Elayne, but still nearly stumbled into her, much to his embarrassment. He needed to stop flying into people.

“I’m impressed,” she said, causing pride to flutter along outside the void even stronger. “It’s a promising start that hints at great things to come. I’d like you to stay here, Kaiden, and work with Saml further, if your teachers will allow.”

Excitement wasn’t just skittering outside the void, it was invading it and he let the void go, not even trying to suppress his smile. He’d get to not just see more of the castle, but stay in it and get to work on something he was actually good at. Well, he wasn’t able to make ter’angreal, but he could help and the very prospect was better than anything he could have imagined. No longer would he be forced to aimlessly create weaves making little pops, bangs or flashes of light.

“I’d be happy, or uh, honoured to stay. Or, well, if Damer allows it I’ll stay Elayne Sedai.”

“That’s good to hear, I’ll speak to Asha’man Damer and have a servant show you to your rooms. The castle should have anything you need, but if not send someone back with Asha’man Damer to get what you need,” she said.

“I shouldn’t need anything, Elayne Sedai, the light illumine you,” he was getting better at holding his excitement in. He was sure after a few days the novelty would wear off, but for now it was still new and he couldn’t get over the he was meeting almost the closest thing to the Dragon Reborn. Well, she was nothing like him, but she’d know him and it was rumoured that she’d birthed two children to him, though some attributed them to a lover she’d taken from the Queen’s Guard.

The door to the unconventional workshop opened up and in stepped two figures. Kaiden attributed the goose bumps on his skin subconsciously to a breeze from the door until his conscious mind told him that there was no breeze. At least one of the two figures was a woman and they were holding the Power.

“Link!” Shouted Elayne.

Kaiden was flustered, he didn’t know what she meant by saying link and who were the two who’d just stepped into the room. Then it clicked in his mind and he let himself be drawn into a circle, sitting on the edge of the void and then tumbling into it as he began drawing more power than he’d ever before. The furious torrent rushed through him sharpened his senses, his eyes, his ears and he could make out that the two figures were a man and a woman in leathers and silks.

Besides the familiar torrent, he felt a sweet and unfamiliar sense of life that could only be Saidar. It was amazing to experience, that such delicacy could also hold so much power. It made him want to weep tears of joy to feel the two juxtaposing powers flowing through him, but he knew it wasn’t the time and schooled himself to the icy calm required to channel.

Through the circle he felt Elayne’s emotions, a tangle of anticipation, surprise and for the most part, anger. Just the fraction of a second later he felt Saml slip into the circle, with emotions much like his own of confusion and anxiety. In front of them he could already see the flows of the Power sweeping and stabbing from the man and woman towards the three of them as Elayne sent back weave after complex weave at the pair who now appeared visibly sweating after just second.

“Leave with us now and we’ll have no future problems,” the woman said, strain obvious in her voice.

“You’re in no position to be setting terms. Allow yourselves to be shielded and you _may_ receive leniency.” Elayne said, each strike of the Power becoming more and more aggressive while the flows from the pair become more and more defensive.

The two pushed out enough of the Power to momentarily send Elayne, Kaiden and Saml reeling back a few steps as Elayne formed a barrier of air in front of them to prevent a follow-up, but the two darted from the room without another attack.

Elayne hiked up her skirts, called for the two men to follower her and set out from the room at a run. Outside the room they saw the fleeing couple through a gateway, but strangely the gateway came out at the far end of the corridor. They hurried after the two at full tilt, Elayne sending fireballs in front of them, but the two jumped into yet another Gateway which opened up onto a green countryside.

Elayne let out a loud curse, a curse Kaiden was surprised, even in the moment, to think that such a Queen or Aes Sedai would know. As they approached the Gateway at the far end of the hall Elayne slowed, the Gateway looked wrong.

“Back!” She ordered, alarm and fear radiating through their bond in the circle and the two men doubled back without delay.

She channeled a door open that was about halfway back to the workshop open so they took the cue and almost fell into it, though Kaiden looked over his shoulder to see that the Gateway wasn’t just turning in on itself as they usually do, but unravelling, threads of Saidin and empty patches which could only be Saidar flailing in the air.

They stood in the unfurnished room, panting and bewildered on Kaiden’s and Saml’s part. Kaiden felt apprehension from Elayne but as the seconds ticked past it lessened until at last she seemed to have deemed it safe to look out of the room into the hallway.

There was nothing to be seen in the hallway and after a few more moments Elayne scowled and let the circle dissolve.

“What was that? If you don’t mind me asking, Elayne Sedai.” Concern and worry were strong in Saml’s voice, but for the most part he seemed composed on the surface.

“Velina Behar,” Elayne said with disgust. “She was a sitter for the White when Elaida was Amyrlin as well as member of the Black Ajah.”

“But what was wrong with the Gateway?”

“She unravelled it so that we couldn’t possibly know where it leads. If she’d done it improperly half of the castle might have been blown apart or we could have been severed.” Elayne didn’t shiver but the implication was in her voice. Stilling might now be fixable, but it was never desirable.

Kaiden felt goose bumps again and was about to enter the void until he saw the one holding Saidar was Corele and following her was Damer, jogging, sword bouncing at hip with another dozen of the Queen’s Guard.

“They’re gone,” Elayne said before the approaching mass had come to a full stop. “Light only knows how they got here without anyone knowing. I might have to take the Amyrlin up on her offer for a few sisters around the castle.”

“I’ll see to it,” Corele said, leaving as soon as she’d arrived with her usual swiftness.

“Kaiden, Saml, you can go to your rooms now. Thank you for your help and work, I look forward to what you can do in the future,” Elayne said, clearly a dismissal.


	5. Chapter 5

Kaiden had been up most of the night last night, head spinning from what had happened. After the fact the Queen had brushed it off as if it was nothing, but to Kaiden it was wild. He’d heard of the odd appearance rogue Asha’man or Black Ajah members, but never on the Queen, and they were most often found after thorough searches, not attacks. Kaiden suspected many now tried to deny they’d ever even served the Dark One, though that was little consolation for their crimes.

He understood, somewhat, why someone would want to try and kidnap the Queen, but he also couldn’t understand it. There was so little to gain for them, they couldn’t kidnap a Queen, an Aes Sedai, and expect to get away with little trouble. The entire thing sounded pointless other than to cause chaos, but they could have just tried to kill her for that, which it didn’t sound like they were trying to do.

When the sun peeked through his window in the morning he gave up trying to sleep and pulled on his black coat with silver sword pin overtop his slept-in underclothes for the morning chill and wandered the halls, wondering where the kitchens might be.

He stopped a passing servant to ask and found he was going the exact opposite direction from the kitchen. Feeling a bit dumb he turned around and his nostrils were soon greeted by the smells of fresh baked breads and boiling stew. That combined with an empty belly was more than enough to momentarily distract himself from his thoughts.  
There were people, mostly servants grabbing last minute snacks before a long day, bustling about the kitchen from end to end. The cooks were more like acrobats as they danced between each other going different directions around the large room with pots, crates and any other assortment of things that only added to the crowded space. It seemed odd that such extravagance was still allowed by the Queen when there was still so many starving and trying to find their new places in the city. It seem odd until he noticed that a steady stream of servants was entering and leaving through a set of large doors at the opposite end of the kitchen through which he could see horses and wagons loaded with food which could only be meant for the people of Caemlyn.

He grabbed himself some of the leftover stew and whatever other morsels he could find, doing his best to stay out of the way of those working and sat down in an unused chair in a corner. He was sure this wasn’t something he should be doing, but it didn’t seem as if he was really bothering anyone and he liked watching the people going about business as usual.

A young girl walked up to him as he was spooning one of the last mouthfuls of soup into his open mouth and just stared a moment before speaking.  
“Are you Kaiden?” She asked.

“Yes, why?” He said, a bit flustered at being recognized.

“I heard about what you did yesterday, it was really amazing”

“Oh, well I didn’t even really do it on purpose, it just sort of happened.”

“You saved the Queen by accident?” She said, incredulous.

“What?” Then it dawned on him that she hadn’t been referring to his Talent. “Oh, right. No, it was more her protecting herself. Saml and me, we just helped a bit.”  
“Don’t be modest” she chided. “Well, you won’t be doing anything quite so exciting today, will you?”

“No, me and Saml were just going to be closeted away again for the day. A shame that this means we’ll probably see less of the Queen now.” He looked into his empty bowl wistfully, wishing for things he doubted he’d get, to see Elayne again and to get more soup.

The second was taken care of, however, a moment later as the girl plucked the bowl from his hands and walked toward one of the large pots with it. She returned with the bowl full to the brim and pulled a stool up near him.

“You’re lucky, you got the last of it,” she said.

“Shouldn’t someone else get this? I already had some.”

“You deserve it,” and she grabbed his spoonless hand unexpectedly. “Will you be stuck where you were yesterday?”

“I imagine so, I don’t think any damage was done to the room. A good thing too since it was a fine room” he replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable at being unable to control one of his hands, though not really minding the pressure on it. “You know the room?”

“Of course,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. Then she stood up and released his hand saying “I can’t be idling all day, though I might be lucky later,” before walking off in the chaos of the kitchen again. 

He was confused with the encounter, though happy with it, and perhaps happier still because of the extra soup it had won him. I should have all my meals here, he thought.  
When he finished his second bowl of stew he put the empty bowl into one of the large wash basins, hoping it was the correct one, and left the kitchen feeling far better than he had when he had woken up.

He basked in the warm, delicious smells of the kitchen for a few more moments before leaving the room at last and returning to the corridor. He was disoriented until he remembered how he’d come there, and then set off towards the workshop he’d been in with Saml the day before.

Saml was already sitting at the table on the far wall and he looked around nervously as Kaiden entered, but relaxed at the same time as recognition and relief showed on his face.  
“Have a good sleep?” Kaiden asked, mostly to start with light conversation rather than any real interest.

“I did, the excitement wore me out if nothing else,” Saml said. He was fiddling with a few little things in his hands on the table, but it didn’t look as if they actually were anything significant. “Did you?”

Kaiden shrugged. “Should we start where we left off yesterday?”

Saml’s eyes brightened, “Oh yes. Well, I’ve had some new ideas I’d like to try, but I supposed we shouldn’t leave what we did yesterday either. See, I was thinking that maybe this needs more than what would standardly be used in an air ter’angreal, this definitely isn’t a standard ter’angreal. I think we should take some of the designs we’ve used before but add in some extra materials, like this.” He didn’t just point to one thing, but a whole new pile of materials that were sitting in what could only be a handful of dirt. “I thought the dirt would help ground it, you see. Normally when a ter’angreal requires earth it is because something is being moved, and you could say something is being moved with this.”

Kaiden let the Saml’s enthusiasm flow over him, relaxing him further, dropping down in the same chair he’d sat in the day before beside the man. He doubted that knowing any of the things Saml was saying really mattered much to him, but he let him keep talking because the room was eerie otherwise and he felt it would be rude to stop him anyway, even if he didn’t understand a thing of what was being said.

Hours of later of making seemingly random combinations of material to form small ter’angreal discs and rings and necklaces that weren’t much more effective than the previous day’s efforts cooled Saml’s enthusiasm noticeably. The one that had worked the best was a large bracelet, but it was hard to control, allowing one to slide across the ground, like on ice, depending on which direction one leaned. It was much the same as the disc Kaiden had demonstrated the day before.

Saml sat scratching his head and Kaiden stared down intently at the fast dwindling supply of materials, hoping to have some burst of insight to make up for his hours of almost nonexistent help.

“Maybe we could…” Kaiden started, before letting the sentence trail off, realizing he hadn’t had anything to say to begin with. Saml hardly even noticed and only continued to stare at the table before him as if it held the answers to life, rather than a pile of dirt containing shining oddments.

The door came open behind them and they both came near falling off their seats, Kaiden only keeping his by the enhanced senses he gained from seizing Saidin and filling himself with the Power. There wasn’t need for the worry, however, and he let go of Saidin a moment later. He seemed to be grabbing it like he another man [little better and expressive metaphor] would unsheathe a sword at every shadow.

The girl, or perhaps woman, in the doorway was the same one he’d seen in the kitchen just hours before. Kaiden’s heart leapt upon recognizing her face. Pretty, he thought, very pretty, and well proportioned, though the hair could be a few shades darker and the expression was a bit too honey sweet for his liking, even if it did help her look immensely pretty.

“Hey…” he said, trailing off, unsure as to how to address her.

“Hello Kaiden, Saml,” she said, curtsying to each in turn as best she could while holding a loaded tray.

He smiled back, still unsure of what else to do.

“I brought you two lunch see said,” attempting to set the tray down, only to scowl at the cluttered, not to mention dirty state of the table they were at. She comprised by taking a tall stool and placing the tray on it in front of the two men, like on an almost too small tea table, just too low to be convenient for sitting height. It had to do however, and neither of the men was complaining at having the food brought to them.

They were both grinning now and smacking their lips, only now fully aware of the hours of rumbling exercise their stomachs had been performing for hours on end. “Thanks,” they said in almost perfect unison, causing another set of grins before tucking into the excellent looking, and smelling, meal before them.

Bread never tasted so good, Kaiden thought, wolfing it down and relishing in its hot, fluffy texture. These things were important to him. Sure, it might be the same bread if it was cold, or if it was even soggy, but that didn’t mean you could convince him to eat it. The stew was even better than the stuff of beans and meat he’d had two bowls of in the morning. This one had that and then some, it had spices! By no means were spices rare as gold, but it was a treat indeed for him. His mouth watered enough to fill a cup just bringing the spicy smelling broth to his lips, dotted here and there with bits of leaf, red daisy for all he cared, it wasn’t something he was particularly good at pointing out, especially with the strong spices filling his nostrils. All he knew was that it tasted good.

Saml seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him, indicated by the noisy slurping Kaiden could hear and the abandoned half slice of bread on the makeshift table before them.

It had been just what he’d needed, they’d both needed, which reminded him that they’d both been ignoring the pretty girl before them with notably more success than they’d had at creating ter’angreal.

Kaiden went to apologize, or to thank her again, he hadn’t quite worked out which direction he was going to take. It didn’t matter, however, as a large yawn overtook whatever it would have been he was going to say. He attempted once more to speak, this time intent on asking the girl what her name was, and perhaps dropping in a clever compliment on the fine hair that really didn’t need to change that many shades to be perfect.

“Name…” was all that came out of Kaiden’s mouth. He glanced over to Saml, if a sluggish roll of the head could be considered a glance, and saw a look of horror dawning on his new friend’s face.

Slurred words were coming from Saml’s mouth, along with spittle and leftover bits of soup and leaves from his mouth. “Channel…”

Kaiden tried, but the source wasn’t there, and what was nearly unimaginable, the void was neither. He desperately tried form the flame in his mind, tried to feed the slow moving panic that was gripping his body, but it was as good as throwing water on the wick.

With the last of his strength, he turned from Saml, pleading eyes watering and wide aimed at the girl. He hoped she’d run for help, get Damer, Corele, whoever was here at the castle. Light be blessed, she was on her feet, whatever was happening wasn’t affecting her, but blood and ashes she wasn’t moving.

“Cillian,” her voice chimed from what seemed a long way away than the mere span separating them. It didn’t make sense. Any further thought was stopped by his fall forward from his chair, sliding forward, hitting the stool and serving tray hard, but hardly even noticing it as he slipped into unconscious on the hard floor of the workshop.


End file.
